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Pictures of Us
Attire
Ceremony and Reception
Food (yummmm)
DIY
Vendors
Adam and I were married at my parents home in Springfield, Missouri. The day was everything we wanted (minus a few kinks in the plan). The temperature was a humid 85 degrees, but the expected rain held off.
I hope you enjoy the bio and might find it useful. Anything that I could DIY, I did. I will post more detail pics of the things I worked on as I get them. We were on a pretty tight budget, so if you are in the same boat, please know that you can have a fabulous time without breaking the bank.
If you would like to use any of our pictures, go right ahead, but it would be awfully sweet of you to mention my name.
A nice shot of my hair……………………..and the whole crew.
And……………………………….I’m ready!! I don’t look excited, do I?
Adam before the wedding, in perfect humor.
Smell my delicious gardenias…brideslave.
“I’m getting married!” My Co-Maids of Honor
Lovely bridesmaids...
My little sis…
All manner of bugs were comfortably enjoying the layers of my dress and veil. This was the last time I paid them any attention.
We decided to do as many pictures as possible beforehand, so that our guests would not have to wait on us after the ceremony. Adam faced the front of the ceremony area and turned around once I was behind him at the altar. I would do it again if I had the chance. Our first meeting was so much more intimate than it would have been otherwise, and the opportunity to talk for a bit before the wedding was priceless.
Taking a rest and sharing a few words with the Best Man.
Teasing groomsman Tom because he looks like a hobbit. Everyone agreed.
My usually affectionate nephew was a little apprehensive about hugging me in front of the camera…
….so I decided to have a little fun. He thought it was funny while it was happening, but I think he wanted to deny our relationship by the time it was all over.
Taking a little stroll with Adam before everyone arrives…
My brothers, the ceremony musicians, practicing beforehand.
So we played a little Taboo to take the edge off. Don’t I look tranquil?
For others avoiding skin cancer, I find this to be a particularly good shot of my fake tan. I used FakeBake, and I think it looks pretty natural. Just for reference, all the BMs have actual tans.
Click links to hear these traditional wedding pieces played on the guitar.
Prelude Hymn: Prelude in C Major –Bach
Processional Hymn: Jesu Joy of Man’s Desiring –J.S. Bach
Bride's Processional Hymn: Canon in D -Pachelbel
The aisle decorations were made from scraps leftover from the invitations.
Waiting for me at the altar…
Those big important moments...I love the joining of the hands in the Episcopal service.
We did it! I love this second picture because my mom is looking over our shoulders.
We did our receiving line a little differently because the outdoor atmosphere was a little more casual, and because we didn’t want it to be something that would take forever. First there was the usual recessional with the wedding party and close family. Adam and I walked back up the side aisle after signing the license, the priest announced us there at the altar, then we went down the center aisle and greeted our guests one by one, he on his side and I on mine. Our parents were waiting at the end to greet people, but those who wished could easily go on to the reception. We got a lot of compliments on this. We were able to hug and greet every guest without the formality of an “assembly line” set up.
Adam sporting some new jewelry…Me with one of my brothers and FG niece.
A couple of ring pics before be go, and we’re off to the reception!
We chose a slightly unconventional form of guestbook. I cut out 7x7 quilt square and provided our guests with fabric markers to write a personal message to us. Some day, I will sew these pieces together and make a quilt for our home.
We also displayed family wedding pictures at the reception, along with a small album of our engagement pictures. The pictures of our parents' and grandparents' weddings included their names and dates.
Our cakes…dogwoods are the Missouri state flower. The Groom’s cake is an admittedly poorly rendered tree stump (that melted) with our initials and butterflies. It’s not like I had anything else to do the day before the wedding, right?
The utterly fabulous Creole Dixieland Jazz Band…..so someone probably should have shut the garage door, huh?
Would someone PLEASE pour me a drink?
The centerpieces were somewhere around $2-3 apiece. I used artificial orchids, floral foam in a terra cotta pot, and spanish moss. I found sage green cheescloth on sale at a fabric store, and Adam and I gathered river rocks one afternoon the week before the wedding.
Watching Best Man Joel give a toast…
Yes, we were none too clean on the cake cutting job.
And just to show you how classy this little soiree really was….
Our first dance…"It Had to be You"
And with Daddy…
The bouquet toss….the girl on the right in pink wanted it so badly…I’m sorry, but I just had to include this sequence.
…and the victory dance!
The garter toss…
Our flower girl missed the bouquet, but she claimed this flower that fell out of it.
...Bye now!
Unexpectedly large quantities of birdseed in the mouth…
Someone kindly made sure that we would have plenty of champagne for the honeymoon, and I was pretty excited about my little discovery.
PSA: Our diesel VW bug gets 43 mpg and lower emissions that standard gas engines. Everyone should get one. Ok, stepping down from soapbox.
Our Budget...
Our wedding was around $6,000. I'm working on the technical breakdown now and will post it as I get to it.
Rental for tent, tables, chairs, linens, napkins, dishes, flatware, champagne flutes, and a punch fountain. $1877
Tents by Design did a great job as far as I was concerned. They brought out a crew to set up the day before the wedding managed not to tear up the lawn. All of the rental equipmnet was in great shape, and the linens were spotless. I think it is standard for many rental companies to require that food particles be removed from dishes. My parents had a great solution for this one: they put all the dishes out on the lawn, squirted them down with a hose, and used mops to knock off any debris.
Photography $850
Shann was great to work with and made us feel very comfortable. We are extremely happy with the results, especially since I waited until we were only 7 months out to book a photographer. I definately got the best deal in our area. We ended up with over 800 digital pictures, and we have them all to keep on CD sets for us and both of our parents.
Flowers and Centerpieces $300
I spent $200 for the corsages for the mothers and grandmothers (6), my bouquet, and the going away corsage that I forgot. I bought silks from save-on-crafts.com to decorate our ceremony site. I made the boutonnieres (10) from fresh herbs from the grocery store. I favor the "poultry mix". The bridesmaids carried wildflowers that we picked and made into bouquets that morning. We threw them together last minute and without a plan, but they worked out just the way I wanted them.
Officiant fee
Our priest didn't charge anything, but we made a donation to the church.
Day of coordinating $100
By far the best $100 spent on the whole deal.
Catering $550
We served fresh fruit and veggies, sandwiches on mini croissants, gulf shrimp, spanikopita, wedding cake, punch, and strawberries and champagne. Most people made a meal out of it, and it was pretty inexpensive. We bought the shrimp ourselves from Sam's and served them with cocktail sauce, rather than paying her to do so. Joann from Chessecakes and More was definately the way to for the bride on a budget, but she was not great at communicating when I called to confirm our date at 6 months out and at 3 months out. I almost ended up cancelling and hiring a new service because she didn't answer my emails or return my phone calls. And the food was late. Good, but late.
Champagne $700
My grandmother purchased the champagne for us as a gift, but if we had paid for it, it would have been around $700. I've included this in the budget because it was a significant expense and aspect of the entertainment, even though it didn't exactly come out of pocket. I don't remember exactly how many cases we ordered, but it ended up being enough for all the young people to get smashed because they asked (ever so sweetly, I'm sure) other tables populated with very old or very young guests if they planned to drink all of their bottles. One bottle contains between 4-5 champagne flute sized drinks. Brown Derby Liquor delivered it chilled, albeit 30 minutes late.
Music $950
My brothers played the classical guitar beautifully (not to mention gratis) for the ceremony, and the New Orleans style jazz band was a smash hit (and our biggest splurge).
Attire $610
My dress was $315, including shipping, from pearlsplace.com. Alterations put the total cost around $400. I made my veil for $10. We had Adam's linen suit custom made for $200.
Stationary $65 including postage
I bought the green paper for invites at Office Max and used the scraps for flower cone aisle decorations. I also bought a ream of cream linen pattern resume type paper and a ream of light green (and totally unremarkable) cardstock. I used that ream of cream paper for invites, programs, and flower cones. This is almost ridiculous: after a very long search for the perfect brown paper to make the invite envelopes (they could not be found to buy, of course), I ended up purchasing what I can only describe as rather nice construction paper from Hobby Lobby at $00.01 a page. The RSVP cards were postcards, and the TYs went out in plain ivory 24 lb. invitation envelopes. I used the green cardstock for both the program backing and thank you cards, which were simply printed with "Thank You" using the same font as our programs. This will probably sound silly, but I printed everthing in brown ink, and I really think that it made it slightly less obvious that I printed them at home. See below for details on invites. All in all, I think the paper products are a great example of making a small investment go a very long way.
My Words of Advice...
Things will go wrong on your wedding day. Some personal examples: Your groom's cake my fall off it's platform. Your florist may do your bouquet entirely differently than you discussed (with pictures). You may not be feeling your best (I threw up in the middle of getting the house ready). Your champagne and food may arrive 30 minutes late, which is a big deal when the ceremony in only 25 minutes. The thing is, you don't have to go to pieces if these things happen. The bouquet was still beautiful, we pushed back the ceremony a bit, and I don't think that any uninformed person would have known that I was sick to look at me. So what if I ate two bites at the reception? I had the time of my life and didn't let it ruin my fun or the fun of my guests. You are the reason for the party, so be a sport. If something happens unexpectedly (and it will), laugh it off and don't get flustered. If you're comfortable, everyone else will be too, and that's what makes a really fun party.
If someone offers you help, take it. I tried to do everything, and all you will do is drive yourself crazy. They wouldn't offer if they weren't willing. My sister-in-law ironed my veil and an OOT friend of the family went to pick up shrimp the night before. These things weren't a big deal, but they saved us a lot of time and trouble. It's hard to prioritize when you have 200 things to do.
If your ceremony and reception are in the same place and you are considering doing pictures beforehand, I urge you to go with this option. We didn't have a cocktail hour or a full meal, so we didn't want to waste reception time with pictures. The big family photos took enough time as it was.
Thank each guest individually for coming and let them know how much it means to you to have them there. Being gracious is the best beauty tip there is.
If you happen to have impolite guests, do not let it show that it bothers you. My alcoholic uncle (who I had reservations about inviting to begin with) showed up drunk and proceeded to get more obviously so as the afternoon wore on. This was incredibly disrespectful (not to mention embarrassing) to our families and I was ready to strangle him, but I just smiled and nodded politely. My father dealt with the situation before it got out of hand, and he was taken away. A lot of people didn't even notice him, but they certainly would have noticed if I had made a scene about it and demanded that he leave.
Take time out and enjoy the moment. Look around at your guests and at the event that you pulled together. Enjoy the gathering of love in your and your husband's honor. Speaking of him, make sure he gets enough attention from you. Show him that the wedding is not just about you, but about the next step through life you and he are taking together.
I know that you've heard this before, but if you can possibly afford it, hire a coordinator for the day of the wedding. The lady who runs the studio where my sister dances had experience doing weddings, and she only charged $100. It was the best money spent on the wedding. She was really sweet and didn't take things over or make unwanted suggestions or decisions. I just laid out my plans and she made sure that everything went the way it should. She is the reason why I didn't worry about the champagne and catering being late. After you put on that dress, there is nothing better than laying responsibility in someone else's able hands. Don't worry your pretty head about it. As one of my maids of honor said, "It's not really up to you anymore. You've done all the work that you need to do. We'll make sure it works out." Incidentally, this does not mean that you have to work your BP's fingers to the bone. The girls were wonderful, but I did most of the work beforehand. I just showed them everything that needed to be put out, and where it should go, in case I wasn't able to do it myself.
Relax and enjoy your day. You've spent months, perhaps years planning for it, and you only get it for a few short hours. Breath it in every second.
Planning Bio
We want a really personal outdoor ceremony and to focus on making our reception a really fun event for our guests. We're on a fairly tight budget and I plan on doing a lot of things myself, so we'll see how this idea works out over the next few months ;)
Our Engagement Pictures...
These were taken by my lovely and talented MOH.
 
 
 
Attire...
I just got my dress in! I ordered from Pearl's Place. They were very helpful and extremely quick with a quote over the phone. It arrived with no problems at all. I'm very pleased with it (I also paid 2/3 of the price I would have paid anywhere else, including shipping costs).
After falling in love with it, I realized later that I'd passed right over it in a magazine. The fitting attendant said that it's really common to like a dress on a particular bride than on a model. Just goes to show...don't knock til you've tried ;)
Pictures of me in the dress coming soon!
This is my bag. It also came with a long siver strap as well as the beaded one shown here, but I plan to carry it as a clutch.
My rings. In case you're interested, we ordered my wedding band from overstock.com. Sounds odd, but we got a really great deal and I couldn't be happier with the ring.
 
The pearl and glass necklace that I made, and the ivory fan that I'm going to carry with my bouquet.
Bouquet style that I want. Can a flower get any yummier than a gardenia?
Bridesmaids Dresses...
I just told them to pick any dress they would be comfortable in, as long as it wasn't long and didn't have sleeves. Who would want either on a June afternoon anyway? This is what they came up with, and I must say, I'm quite pleased. All the dresses will be some sort of muted shade of green, though they won't match. What can I say? I'm easy to please.
    
Adam will be sporting a linen suit, but I seriously doubt he will look as zoot suitey as this guy does because, well, zoot suit's simply not his schtick ...but he'll look so handsome.
The gentlemen will be wearing herb boutonnieres, complements of moi.
The Scene...
Our ceremony site...My parents' backyard. It's just perfect for us.
The reception look we're going for.
Good Eats...
Tell me you wouldn't love to see on of these on your place at the table!
A really cute idea for a groom's cake. It's perfect for us because we met while working at a summer camp.
Thanks to Knottie Janners for the pic.
DIY...
Ringbearers' pillows that I made. I have two nephews, so I figured, why not two ringbearers? Thus, two pillows.
A close-up of the necklace that I made for myself.
Our Invitations --open and closed.
I'm happy to say that these were made with 100% recycled materials. For the actual invitations, we used standard 8.5 x 11" paper in Ivory and Moss from Office Max. The invites were done with brown ink in Word using ILS Script, and were 5.5". We used spray adhesive (trust me, Elmer's is best) to attach the ivory to the green with a .25" stagger at the bottom. Then I took them to Kinko's to be cut on the guillotine paper cutter ($0.50, perhaps...DO NOT try to cut them at home when this is so easy and inexpensive). We folded them roughly in thirds and ironed the creases.
Response Postcards
I ordered the ivory postcard paper from Great Papers, and used a stamp from Hobby Lobby with brown ink. To make the postcards, I created tables in Word in which to put all of the information. This is the best way to divide things up because spacing and "entering" won't affect the other cells.
Direction Maps
I created the maps in Paint using the zoom feature and the grid. Then I inserted the graphic into Word (I used cells as well on this project for spacing), where I could play with the dimensions. I also printed written directions on the back of the card, as well as information about The Knot.
Inner Envelopes
I used the 3 inch sections that were cut from the invitations to wrap everything together, then I used a glue stick to close the wrap. I ironed these, just to make sure it would stay.
Outer Envelopes
I used standard size brown paper, placed the invitation in the middle, folded the bottom edge upward (securing sides with gluestick), the top edge downward (securing the horizontal seam, as well as the side edges), and folded in the ends, affixing them with a spot of double sided tape at each corner. If you decide to do something like this, it's very important to seal the side edges with the gluestick when folding the top and bottom so that they don't get crooked when you fold the sides in. I ironed the corners again just to reinforce the tape.
Programs
Vendors...
Photographer: Shann Swift of Swiftshots
Catering: Joann Gohlz-Inmon of Cheesecakes and More
Cake: Creations by Darlene
Florist: Connie's Creations
Reception Music: Creole Dixieland Jazz Band
...more to come soon
Thanks for looking!
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You Know You're From Springfield, MO When... |
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Your favorite things to do outside the house are see a movie or go to Wal-mart.
Road construction leads the local news report.
You go to the park at 3pm, and the skies are clear. By 3:05 you're running for cover from the thunderstorms.
You know who the The "Ozark Mountain Ducks" are.
You've debated with friends (on multiple occasions) whether it's coke, soda, or pop, and never reached a consensus.
When in doubt for a present for that special someone, you stop by Bass Pro.
Your idea of vacation is a day trip to Branson.
In high school, you ever arrived late due to a Krispie-Kreme induced traffic jam.
New people in town are either college students or lost and looking for Branson.
You get thru a traffic light on the 3rd round ... if you’re lucky!
You know that Bachelor guy, because he gave your sister an STD.
You actually get these jokes and pass them on to other friends from Springfield, MO.
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